Engineers design new lead detector for water

Mechanical engineer Junhong Chen and a team at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (UWM), have developed what you might think of as a "canary in the coal mine" for lead in water.

With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), they designed a sensor with a graphene-based nanomaterial that can immediately detect lead and other heavy metals. The new platform technology can be used for one-time testing of lead in tap water through a handheld device.

The small sensors also can be integrated into water meters and purifiers, with the goal of continuous monitoring to prevent exposure to lead that could be introduced between the water treatment plant and the home.

The team is now working with manufacturers, including A.O. Smith Corporation, Badger Meter Inc., Baker Manufacturing Company LLC and NanoAffix Science LLC, to put the sensors into use. In addition to real-time detection and continuous monitoring, this lead sensor system is a low cost way to mitigate lead contamination in water.

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The Industrial Innovation and Partnerships Division of the Directorate for Engineering fosters partnerships to advance technological innovation and public-private partnerships. The division invests in high-tech small businesses and collaborations between academia and industry to transform discoveries into innovative commercial technologies with societal benefits.

Marc Edwards, a civil engineering professor, and Yanna Lambrinidou, a medical ethnographer, taught a course that enabled students to become active protagonists in one of the greatest drinking water emergencies in recent history. Edwards has recent widespread name recognition due in part to his leadership role in the 2015 studies that uncovered high amounts of lead in the Flint, Michigan, drinking water. In the early 2000s, Edwards, an expert in water treatment and corrosion, uncovered elevated lead levels in the Washington, D.C., drinking water.

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